Previa Owners 2001/2 - Advice

[bigcog]

Hi, especially families, what do people think of this MPV for 2001/2 in a diesel? We have 2 children and now we have moved up car seats we cannot fit another adult between the car seats. Bit of a pain when you have visitors, you can't make day trips in one car. Do they have isofix? Can you fit three car seats across the second row? How reliable and safe are they? Any experiences please post them here, Thanks

[Bacon]

Hi,

We have a 2003 D4D CDX Previa which has been converted for wheelchair access in the back so I can't really comment on the rear seats. We have two Britax child seats fitted to the two outside middle row of seats using the Isofix mounts in the seats and do not have a problem with seating an adult between them. It's worth noting however that the midle seat is narrower than the two outside seats. The middle seat also does not have Isofix from what I can see and you may find that the lap belt will not be suitable for most child restraints. The britax web site has a fitment function to assist with their products. I think there is a bench seat in the middle and rear row of seats on some models so I can't comment on them. We do not put the grandkids in the front seat so we don't have the air bag issues. We are about to change to another seating solution for the kids as they are 4 and 5 now so have outgrown the first seats.

Maintenance has been carried out by our local Toyota dealer and prices vary depending on what service you get. Most expensive was about £600 which included an MOT, re gassing the AC and fixing a sump leak. My last service was about £160 including MOT. My front tyres are done at 20k miles and front pads about the same. alloys were replaced under warranty because of corrosion but are going the same way again. I have just had the turbo replaced as it was giving us stuck turbo warnings and cutting engine power. Lets hope I'm in the minority with that but should it happen, your looking at approx £2k ish to fix. We get about 36 MPG on trip computer driving about town and did see 50 on a long run. Can't vouch for accuracy of computer though ;o)

Bodywork has been fine as is the interior but be careful of that low front bit on the bumper. It hits high-ish kerbs easily. So, other than the oil leak from the sump and the turbo failure (not small items), it has served us well.

Wear a tear on a vehicle and components will vary with driving styles so I should say that our car mostly sees short journeys and about 6k miles a year.

Hope this helps.

[bigcog]

Hi thanks for the advice. I take it from what you are saying that the middle seats are not 3 point belts? If so that kind of puts me off not being a fan of lap belts at all.

[Bacon]

Hi thanks for the advice. I take it from what you are saying that the middle seats are not 3 point belts? If so that kind of puts me off not being a fan of lap belts at all.

On our vehicle which has three individual seats in the middle row, the two outer seats have your standard lap diagonal (lap and shoulder) belts and the middle seat has the lap only. There are two lap diagonal (lap and shoulder) belts in the rear seat positions as well. We use one to support the wheelchair passenger.